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Beastie Boys DVD Video Anthology - Criterion Collection

Beastie Boys DVD Video Anthology - Criterion Collection

List Price: $29.98
Your Price: $26.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: two disks, three-pack bonanza
Review: This set demonstrates, better than any other DVD I've ever seen, the wealth of possibilities offered to music and video by new technology.

Since most of the videos have multiple (and more) options for remixes and alternate visuals, once you really get into this disk, it almost becomes more like an interactive game than an anthology. With all the options to mix-and-match song and picture, you could tweak with this thing for hours.

Plus, the sound and picture quality are excellent. And the "Body Movin" video samples Mario Bava's "Danger: Diabolique," which is pretty frickin' cool.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An opportunity to use every feature of your DVD player
Review: This DVD set seems simple enough: you get 18 Beastie Boys videos. What makes this great is that you get everything you could ever want associated with those videos: a commentary by the Beastie Boys, extra video footage, production photos, tons of alternate angles which show things cut out of the videos and which often include some Beastie Boys craziness, and basically anything else they could dig up for the video. To top it off, you get one of the best menu setups I've ever seen, and a little poster....

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Incredible
Review: This 2 DVD set is any true fan's dream come true. I've loved the Beastie Boys since I was a kid listening to to "Licence to Ill" on my boombox. While I've grown out of many of the things I liked as a kid, the Beasties have grown with me.

I love their music. The Beasties have proven thmselves capable of growth and versatility while keeping everything in perspective. Whenever I'm with a group who can't agree on music, they can almost always settle for Beasties, whether they ONLY like the punk tracks or ONLY like the rap tracks or like me, love all of it. I'm going to go out on a limb and just say it: BEASTIES RULE!!! If you don't love their music, this set is not for you, you can stop reading this and go try and find the new 'N Sync or Michael Bolton CD or whatever it is you listen to.

Ok, I always like to get my complaints out of the way early, believe me, they'll be brief. 1. Censorship. It's not that I can't live without the 'f' or 's' words, but it drives me crazy when they are edited from original material, be it movies, or in this case songs. While Beastie tracks have never been drenched with profanity, they do sprinkle some curse words here and there. They are noticeably absent from this set for whatever reason. It's nothing to get riled up about, not even worth a star from my review, but it's a big pet peeve of mine and worth mentioning. I've returned CD's for the same offense.

2. Also absent are all those "Licence to Ill" video's. This is probably do to some copyright wars or something. Russell Simmons maybe? What strikes me as strange is that, while the songs appear on the "Anthology" CD set, their corresponding videos do not appear on the DVD's. Not a big loss. REALLY old punk video's like "Holy Snappers" do however. Again, it's a small complaint.

Everything else about the set is absolutely fantastic. Each video contains a wealth of information. One of my personal favorites is the inclusion of almost all 'B' side remixes. I used to own the single for "What'Cha Want" which had a ton of remixes. When I lost it, I was never able to replace it. I was very pleased to find almost all of the remixes on this DVD all sychronized to the video. Good stuff.

Using "What'Cha Want" as an example of quality, it also contains several alternate angles from the original filming: Beasties in the studio, talking head Beasties, etc. which can be mixed and matched with the different remixes. While most of them are just good for a quick laugh, it adds variety to something that used to be very static.

There are actually two formats when you want to watch and listen. The first basic way of watching is by viewing them in sequence, this is the only way to select the 5.1 sound and the commentaries, but you can't select alternate tracks. The DVD will play from beginning to end without prompting. The other way of playing is as I described with "So What'Ca Want". You select an individual song and then set it up how you like, or view bonus material for that particular track ("Body Movin' and "Sabotage" have some cool/funny extras). You can also switch mixes and angles in mid-play by using the on-screen menu. I thought this feature was one of the coolest and most practical.

Almost all the songs have alternate tracks and angles, and all of them have Directors commentary and commentary from the Beasties themselves. While you might not get a huge amount of technical advice if you're a budding director, the commentaries are entertaining and give a glimpse into the Beastie world.

Also, not surprisingly, the disc contains links to the Beaties web site and their various "Free Tibet" sites and charity organizations which are all non-profit and rely on donations. Incedentally, anyone who's owned the "Tibetan Freedom Concert" 3 CD set might find it as another good example of how well the Beasties throw together a compilation. It too contained a wealth of great information, movies and interactive material similar to the stuff on this set.

From a fans standpoint, this is a great set because of all the cool Beastie stuff, from a technical standpoint it sets a new standard for interactive DVD viewing and shows just how versatile the format can be. Artists should be going out of their way to emulate what the Beasties have done here with a little bit of foresight, planning and a total respect for their fans. The sad thing is, most artists are either too lazy, too self-involved, or too god-awful to provide a quality product for their fans and customers. This is why the Beasties are far ahead of the pack.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: the greatest DVD ever made.
Review: I think that about wraps it up.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great dvd
Review: FUN TO WATCH OVER AND OVER AGAIN, GREAT INSIGHT WITH THE COMMENTARIES.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Amazing, Amazing, and did I mention Amazing?
Review: This 2 disc dvd is awesome...I am a huge Beastie Boys fan, so of course I am biased about the music; however, even if you are not a fan of the music (which I can't imagine, but...) , you can't help but be wowed by the technology used in the dvd and laugh at the hilarious campy videos. The dvd showcases the best of dvd technology using multiple tracks for both video and audio. Most songs allow several different angles (which actually are different takes, views, stories) of each video and different remixed versions of the soundtrack. There is also a how-to section of the dvd and an amusing color-bar extra (with commentary from the boys). If you are either a beastie fan or a dvd tech-geek, this is a must have dvd!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beastie Boys Heaven!
Review: This two-disc DVD set is amazing! If you love the Beastie Boys, this is for you. There are so many extra features I don't know if I'll ever be able to explore them all! You can watch the video with several different remixes. You can follow one camera through the whole video. A couple videos have alternate sequences. One of my favorite extras is the interview Sofia Coppola did with the group in character as their "Sabotage" alter-egos. Extras aside, the videos are fantastic, with "Shadrach," "Hey Ladies," and "Sabotage" probably being my favorites. However, as "So What'cha Want" shows, these guys can be cool just jumping around in the woods.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Nathanial Hornblower blows his horn. . . .
Review: And in the case of this DVD, he blows it loudly. This is the quintisential piece for any Beastie Boys collection. I don't really know where to begin singing praise for this disc. I guess I'll start with the basics: excellent commentary tracks, interesting remixes, comprehensive collection of all the Beastie Boys videos, and most importantly, Dolby 5.1 sound. This is one versatile disc. You can sit down and listen to Spike Jones wax over the shooting of the Sabotage video or simply listen to the disc as if it were a CD.

I wish Spike Jones was a drinking buddy of mine!!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A pretty decent Beastie release
Review: A while ago I started following the Beastie Boys pretty closely, going out and buying up all the cds I could, filling up with all sorts on inane Paul's Boutique knowledge and what not. Naturally a DVD collection of all the Beasties videos sounded great; they have had quite a versatile career in music with each album sounding completely different from the one that preceded. This aspect of the band's music combined with a DVD that would finally let me take advantage of some of the hyped DVD features not commonly found (alternate angles and soundtracks). Being able to look at parts of Sabotage, Hey Ladies, or Intergalactic that ended up on the cutting room floor combined with a different remix make this easy to watch over and over. My only gripe, the band commentary isn't nearly as interesting and you would anticipate. Nice animated menus, full of features.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beastie Boys: Anthology (2000) d: Various
Review: The ultimate Beastie Boys collection that has the producers pulling out all the stops and taking full advantage of everything that the medium has to offer. Includes old school style hip-hop rap classics like "Body Movin", "Sabotage". [which includes a spoof talk show that interviews the fictional cops from the video.] "Intergalactic" [witch along with the video includes the world premiere of the nine-minute 'Robot vs. The Octopus Monster Saga' (1998)], "So What'cha Want" and many more. Two disc full of hours of entertainment from The Criterion Collection, but more importantly layered beneath the video footage are rare remix versions of the same songs done by everyone from Fatboy Slim, to the Prunes, or D.J. / producers like Moby. With a video beastiology like this who needs CD's anymore, I hope this becomes a DVD others in the recording industry will set their standards with. An Exciting and worthwhile purchase.


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